Liquefied Petroleum Gas(LPG)

Liquefied petroleum gas or liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), also referred to as simply propane or butane, are flammable mixtures of hydrocarbon gases used as fuel in heating appliances, cooking equipment, and vehicles.

It is widely used alternative fuel. It has substantial reserves due to its dual origins from natural gas processing and crude oil refining. Liquefied Petrol Gas (LPG) powered passenger cars have about 10% lower tailpipe CO2 emission than comparable gasoline powered cars. When compared to a diesel car, there is no significant CO2 emission reduction per km driven; however, LPG powered vehicles do have substantially lower NOx emissions than diesel powered vehicles.

It is an inevitable by-product of the crude oil refining process and of natural gas processing. In natural gas processing, the natural gas is cleaned off heavy hydrocarbons such as propane and butane before distribution. About 60% of global LP Gas supply comes from natural gas processing (WLPGA, 2011). In crude oil refining, LPG is a by-product of the refining process. LPG is gaseous at room temperature and changes to a liquid when compressed at moderate pressure or chilled. The chemical composition of LPG can vary, but is usually made up of butane and propane with a 30-99% propane mix.

It is increasingly used as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant, replacing chlorofluorocarbons in an effort to reduce damage to the ozone layer. When specifically used as a vehicle fuel it is often referred to as auto gas.

Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are mostly propane (C3H8), mostly butane (C4H10) and, most commonly, mixes including both propane and butane.

EN-590 Diesel

EN590 describes the physical properties that all automotive diesel fuel must meet if it is to be sold in the European Union, Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

The EN 590 had been introduced along with the European emission standards. With each of its revisions the EN 590 had been adapted to lower the sulphur content of diesel fuel - since 2007 this is called ultra low sulphur diesel as the former function of sulphur as a lubricant is absent (and needs to be replaced by additives).

ULSD has a lower energy content due to the heavy processing required to remove large amounts of sulfur from oil, leading to lower fuel economy. Using it requires more costly oil.

In the European Union, the “Euro IV” standard has applied since 2005, which specifies a maximum of 50 ppm of sulfur in diesel fuel for most highway vehicles; ultra-low-sulfur diesel with a maximum of 10 ppm of sulfur must “be available” from 2005 and was widely available as of 2008. A final target (to be confirmed by the European Commission) of 2009 for the final reduction of sulfur to 10 ppm, which will be considered the entry into force of the Euro V fuel standard.

Gasoil

Gasoil or the refinery abbreviation D2 is the second distillate from the crude oil, and can be used without reformers and additives. So, the first engines used D2 as fuel  before petrol cars as we know them today was invented. That is because the engine invented by a German called Diesel, requires no spark plugs. The diesel engine will ignite and combust when the pressure increases so that the heated “plug” makes it explode. Here we get the name “Diesel”   since the same principles are used in diesel engines today.

The principal difference between GASOIL and D2 is the content of sulphur. Just 10 years ago, the US EPA introduced a limit of 4% sulphur in the GASOIL, whereas Europe and the rest of the world followed later.

In the U.S. it is ANSI that has defined the US national standard for D2, according to proposals from the ASTM, API and EPA.

In Europe there are similar national variants, e.g. in Germany set by DIN, and in Russia by GOST.

The GOST variant for D2/Gasoil is GOST 305–82 and specifies now a sulphur content of 0.02 MAX which is according to the ISO standard. However, the ANSI standard will call this “Ultra Low Sulphur”, and retain 0.2% (2000ppm) as the “Low sulphur”. The reduction of sulphur in the Gasoil used for heating has contributed to less pollution in many cities.

Fuel Oil

Fuel oil (also known as heavy oil, marine fuel or furnace oil) is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. In general terms, fuel oil is any liquid fuel that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash point of approximately 42 °C (108 °F) and oils burned in cotton or wool-wick burners. Fuel oil is made of long hydrocarbon chains, particularly alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics. The term fuel oil is also used in a stricter sense to refer only to the heaviest commercial fuel that can be obtained from crude oil, i.e., heavier than gasoline and naphtha.

Small molecules like those in propane, naphtha, gasoline for cars, and jet fuel have relatively low boiling points, and they are removed at the start of the fractional distillation process. Heavier petroleum products like Diesel and lubricating oil are much less volatile and distill out more slowly, while bunker oil is literally the bottom of the barrel; in oil distilling, the only things denser than bunker fuel are carbon black feedstock and bituminous residue (asphalt), which is used for paving roads and sealing roofs.

Naphtha

Petroleum naphtha is an intermediate hydrocarbon liquid stream derived from the refining of crude oil with CAS-no 64742-48-9. It is most usually desulfurized and then catalytically reformed, which rearranges or restructures the hydrocarbon molecules in the naphtha as well as breaking some of the molecules into smaller molecules to produce a high-octane component of gasoline (or petrol).

There are hundreds of different petroleum crude oil sources worldwide and each crude oil has its own unique composition or assay. There are also hundreds of petroleum refineries worldwide and each of them is designed to process either a specific crude oil or specific types of crude oils. Naphtha is a general term as each refinery produces its own naphthas with their own unique initial and final boiling points and other physical and compositional characteristics.

Naphthas may also be produced from other material such as coal tar, shale deposits, tar sands, and the destructive distillation of wood.

Bitumen

Bitumen or Asphalt is a sticky, black, and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used.

The primary use (70%) is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs.

The terms "asphalt" and "bitumen" are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance. In American English, "asphalt" (or "asphalt cement") is commonly used for a refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils. Outside the United States, the product is often called "bitumen", and geologists worldwide often prefer the term for the naturally occurring variety. Common colloquial usage often refers to various forms of asphalt as "tar", as in the name of the La Brea Tar Pits.